Hi John,
Today, COP29 begins in Baku, Azerbaijan. World leaders, including from the UK, will convene to discuss how countries should tackle climate change in the years to come.
Trump’s election victory last week is a huge threat to the global climate fight. But we have never allowed a US president to define our struggle or its chances of success, and we’re not about to start now.
It’s up to all of us to use whatever tools we have to fight for a just global energy transition. If we’re successful, Trump’s US - and whatever version of America comes after - will be left behind until his ‘drill baby drill’ promise is dropped.
Most urgently, we must use COP29 as an opportunity to demand that the UK government does not capitulate to Trump’s climate-denialism and makes good on its promises to work with the global south for a fair end to the climate crisis.
Here are some of the ways that you can get involved:
Demand the government makes polluters pay
This year’s COP is key for climate finance - world leaders are due to agree a new goal for how much each country pays to combat the climate crisis.
Donald Trump received record donations from oil lobbyists during his 2024 election campaign. Many at the top of this trillion-dollar destructive industry will be jumping for joy at the election result.
Fossil fuel giants make billions each year fuelling the climate crisis. And they are unscrupulous in making sure their interests are protected. We must dismantle their power.
The first step is demanding polluters are made to pay for the climate damage they have caused. If you haven’t already, please demand the UK government makes this happen, and help us get to 40,000 signatures before we hand in our petition at the end of this week:
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Join the fight for a Fossil Fuel Treaty
Last year, nearly 2,500 fossil fuel lobbyists attended COP. Some of them were card-carrying members of countries’ delegations, including the UK.
And the USA, the world’s second biggest emitter, has always had an outsized influence at COP. It’s no surprise that these conferences have taken nearly 30 years to even name fossil fuels as the cause of the climate crisis.
None of this means COP isn’t important. Crucial negotiations will continue to happen there. But we need a different system to work alongside it, one that puts speed and fairness at its heart and is not built around the interests of the global north.
This is what the Fossil Fuel Treaty can deliver. And the good news is that willing countries making progress on the treaty, without the USA on board, was always part of the plan. Because the US was never going to be a first mover on climate justice. It's up to all of us to move this fight forward however we can.
If you haven’t already, join us in our call for a Fossil Fuel Treaty:
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Join the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice
Local groups and activists across the UK will be taking to the streets and heading into their communities on Saturday 16 November. They will demand that the government ends our reliance on fossil fuels and pays up for climate finance.
At a time when movements around the world are focused on Israel’s horrific war on Gaza, it will also call for an end to UK complicity in that conflict - which has parallels with the climate violence already facing many communities at the frontline of the climate crisis in the global south.
You can find and join your local action using the online map:
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Shoulders to the wheel
I’m not trying to sugarcoat things: a second Trump presidency is a huge threat to the climate and global justice more broadly. That’s why we need to organise around new spaces and systems, and challenge injustice at COP.
But we must not lose hope. In 2001, George W Bush refused to implement an international treaty to reduce emissions. During his last presidency, Trump briefly quit the Paris Agreement. But our movement kept fighting and pushing so that the wheels of global climate justice continued to turn.
Trump’s second term is looming, but this just means the UK government must go further, faster for a fair resolution to the global climate crisis. We must demand that it remains steadfast to the climate ambition that so many of us support. If we succeed, the US will be forced to follow.
I know we can win this fight, and I hope that you will join us in it.
Izzie McIntosh
Campaigner at Global Justice Now
Notes
1. Trump gets record donations from big oil but far less than $1bn he wanted, Guardian, 18 October 2024
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At Global Justice Now we’re proud to be outspoken
We take on issues that others are afraid to touch and we don’t make compromises.
By joining us, you can fight for regulations that put people before profit, and build public pressure against corporate greed.
Become a member and join others standing up to injustice.
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